A law signed by Washington State Gov. Bob Ferguson last week that requires members of the clergy to report confessions of child abuse or neglect is under scrutiny, as the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) has opened a civil rights investigation into whether the law violates the First Amendment.
The Evergreen State’s new law adds “members of the clergy” to a list of professionals who are required to report information obtained through confessionals that relate to child abuse or neglect, to law enforcement or other state authorities.
The law provides no exception for the absolute seal of confidentiality, which applies to Catholic Priests, according to the DOJ.
The DOJ also said the state’s new law singles out “members of the clergy” as the only “supervisors” who are unable to rely on applicable legal privileges such as religious confessions, as a reason to not report the claims as mandated.
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The DOJ’s Civil Rights Division is investigating whether Washington state’s law violates religious protections provided under the First Amendment.
The First Amendment states, “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.”
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“SB 5375 demands that Catholic Priests violate their deeply held faith in order to obey the law, a violation of the Constitution and a breach of the free exercise of religion cannot stand under our Constitutional system of government,” Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division said. “Worse, the law appears to single out clergy as not entitled to assert applicable privileges, as compared to other reporting professionals. We take this matter very seriously and look forward to Washington State’s cooperation with our investigation.”
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Ferguson, who signed the bill into law on May 2, did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment on the matter.
FOX 13 in Seattle reported that the bill will go into effect on July 26.
The station also reported that a federal report shows that Washington is one of just five states that does not explicitly or implicitly require clergy to report suspected child abuse or neglect. It added that most states exempt information learned through confession from mandatory reporting, though Washington joins just a handful of states, including West Virginia and New Hampshire, which do not provide such exemptions.
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